Chapter 38

Her eyes lit up as she recalled something, and she fished eight silver coins out of her pockets. Staring down with some reluctance, she thrust four of the coins into his hands. "We each get four silver half-lucets per month. That's worth about twelve copper lucets, and a copper lucet is…seven small coppers? So a silver half-lucet is, um, around a hundred small coppers?"

"Eighty-four small coppers, then." Out of habit, he rested a hand where his crystal had sat along his waistline for nearly three years even though he had left it at home. "How much does the average meal cost at one of the stalls?"

Anice blushed.

"Oh, of course," he nodded. "You've never paid before, have you?"

"I've paid!"